English football fans contest Belgian local elections

"ROT" or "rotten" in English is the name of a new party set up by English Charlton Athletic supporters eager to see the back of club owner, Belgian Roland Duchâtelet. "ROT" stands for 'Roland Out Today'.

Thu 30 Aug 10:01

The party intends to contest the local elections in Sint-Truiden, the club owner's base. ROT argues that Duchâtelet's influence on the club has been catastrophic. Within months he sold the best players and he told the coach which players to field and what tactics to use. The party is also eager to encourage the locals to consider the club owner's business activities while he was on the council accusing him of a conflict of interests.

The Belgian, who formerly owned Sint-Truiden and Standard Liège, bought Charlton in 2014. The club faces annual losses of 11 million euros, but the fans have not appreciated the new owners' cuts.